"Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know" – Ernest Hemingway

Day: July 23, 2017

I’ve been away for about 13 days. My dreams of posting a blog every day seem impossible about now. I have reentered into the corporate world. A pointless rat race it may seem like. But regardless of how I feel about it personally, I still have a family to take care of.

So, the track I’ve chosen to go into as my first real “adult” job is sales. I know people who work in sales has a horrible reputation. What I have found out from my current employment is that sales, in general, is just as bad, if not even worse than what people think. Pay is dependent on how much you sell, and the competition is cutthroat. Sales is a grueling business. I suppose that I am one of the lucky ones.

Yes, I too, work in sales. It’s hard work and every day I’ve gone home wondering if I have what it takes to make it in the business. But something, besides supporting a family, has got me up and to the office by 8 am for five straight days last week. It’s the atmosphere. It’s my bosses and coworkers. It’s the fact that every day I go to work with a smile, a notebook, and pen. It’s not that sales matter less at this particular job. That’s not true at all. Sales are very important, but ringing bell is the top priority.

Friday was my first day in the field. I did not sell one, single, solitary thing. For over 8 hours, I stood outside with my talented and supportive coworkers and did not hear one “Yes”. When I got back to the office I was super excited. Not for any other reason but for this simple fact: I could only get better from here. All the training leading up to my first day on the field thoroughly prepared me to hear “No” every day for the rest of my life. Striving for the “Yes, working long hours for the ” Yes”, but can totally handle that “No” which is more motivating than anything else. Well, almost anything else.

A “Yes” on my first day out in the field would have been amazing. It would have been a first. But it wouldn’t have taught me nearly as much. “No” taught me about patience. “No” taught me to be persistent. “No” taught me the value of a positive attitude and the importance of a strong work ethic. “No” shows me that I have not failed, I have just found a million ways that will not work. I will keep trying until I find a way that works for me.